Holly Patterson, age 18, was a high-achiever. She graduated from Granada High School in Livermore, California in only three years.
When she got pregnant in the early fall of 2003, she only told one person: her boyfriend, Ehsan Bashi. He accompanied her to a Planned Parenthood in Hayward, California on September 10. There, Holly was diagnosed as 7-weeks pregnant and administered the first drug for her abortion: mifepristone. She was sent home with pain medications and the second drug: misoprostol. She was told to self-administer the misoprostol at home the next day and return in a week ton confirm that the abortion had been successful.
The FDA recommended regimen calls for the second drug to be administered between the cheek and gums. However, this can cause nausea and vomiting, so Planned Parenthood instructed women to administer the drug vaginally.
Three days later, Holly called Planned Parenthood and reported severe abdominal cramping. The person she spoke to told her that this was normal and to take her painkillers. If the symptoms didn't improve, she was told, then she should go to the emergency room.
The following day Holly was still in severe pain and was bleeding heavily. She went to the emergency room at Valley Care Medical Center and told the doctor there about the abortion. That doctor injected her with narcotic pain medications and sent her home.
The narcotics didn't help. On the morning of September 17 -- weak, vomiting, and unable to walk -- Holly returned to the hospital. They admitted her shortly after 9 a.m. and called her father, Monty Patterson, telling him to hurry because his daughter was intensive care.
This was the first Monty knew about the pregnancy and abortion.
He rushed to the hospital. "Holly was intubated, and I went and held her and said, 'I don't know what happened but I'm here to help, to get you well.' The look in her eyes said, 'Dad, save me.'"
She died shortly before 2 pm, with her father at her side. The cause of death was septic shock from Clostridium sordelli.
Monty told the San Francisco Chronicle, "The medical community treats this as a simple pill you take, as if you're getting rid of a headache. The procedure, the follow-ups, it's all too lackadaisical. The girl gets a pill. Then she's sent home to do the rest on her own. There are just too many things that can go wrong."
Monty wanted to know why Planned Parenthood didn't follow the FDA-recommended regimen. He wanted to know why they sent her to the emergency room instead of to a specially trained doctor who would know how to treat abortion pill complications. He wanted to know why Holly and other women like her weren't given enough information to understand what is and isn't cause for concern in these kinds of abortions.
Three other women were identified as having died of infection deaths after RU-486 abortions in the Los Angeles area: Chanelle Bryant, Oriane Shevin, and Vivian Tran. Like Holly, Chanelle got her abortion drugs at a Planned Parenthood, as did Vivian. Oriane got hers at a National Abortion Federation member clinic.
Three other women were identified as having died of infection deaths after RU-486 abortions in the Los Angeles area: Chanelle Bryant, Oriane Shevin, and Vivian Tran. Like Holly, Chanelle got her abortion drugs at a Planned Parenthood, as did Vivian. Oriane got hers at a National Abortion Federation member clinic.
Watch Planned Parenthood's Fatal Abortion Pills on YouTube.
Sources:
Sources:
- "Teen dies after taking abortion pill," NBC News, September 22, 2003
- "Family, friends pay tribute / Woman who died after taking abortion pill buried in Livermore," SFGate, September 25, 2003
- "Taker of abortion pill died due to infection," SFGate, November 1, 2003
- "One dad's questions about pill / RU-486 proven safe, yet a daughter died," SFGate, September 26, 2004
- "Safety Of Abortion Pill Questioned," CBS News, November 16, 2004
- "Abortion Pill Investigated in Four California Deaths," Los Angeles Times, August 15, 2005
- "Man Blames Daughter's Death on Abortion Pill," ABC News, May 17, 2006
- "Monty Patterson learns about RU-486 the hard way," SFGate, December 5, 2011
- Patient Safety Movement: Holly Patterson
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